Trial for Bundibugyo Ebola treatment starts in DRC, WHO says

A treatment trial for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) enrolled its first patient on Thursday, marking a milestone in efforts to contain the outbreak, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Tedros said the start of the clinical trial was an important step but warned that the response continues to face major obstacles, pointing to an attack on an Ebola treatment center in Ituri province that killed two people.

"Despite all this progress, we continue to face significant challenges, including mistrust and violence," Tedros told reporters.

There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has caused more than 1,400 cases in the DRC, including 438 deaths.

The DRC has recorded an average of 38 new confirmed cases per day over the past two weeks, Tedros said.

The trial, which is expected to take several months and involve more than 1,000 patients, will evaluate Mapp Biopharmaceutical's experimental MBP134 antibody treatment both as a standalone therapy and in combination with Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug remdesivir, according to the WHO.

The WHO said there are enough supplies of the experimental drugs for the trial and that it is working with the United States, which donated MBP134, and Gilead to ensure patients can continue accessing the treatments after the study if they prove to be safe and effective.

Gilead said it has donated more than 2,000 vials of remdesivir for the trial, in addition to the 2,000 vials it supplied for emergency use in June.

Tedros also highlighted improvements in the broader Ebola response. The DRC now has 10 laboratories capable of testing for Ebola, and health workers are successfully monitoring four out of every five identified contacts, although more contacts still need to be traced for each confirmed case.

Treatment capacity has also increased, with 650 beds now available for Ebola patients. About 96% of those beds are currently occupied, and the WHO and its partners are working to add 300 more.

Separately, the WHO declared the hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship over after the last identified contact of an exposed person completed quarantine and tested negative for the virus.

The outbreak infected 13 people and claimed three lives. It involved the Andes virus, a rare strain of hantavirus that typically circulates in Argentina and Chile. -Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Pooja Desai and Jonathan Ananda/Reuters